Will of the Gods
by Batscribe29
Summary: The villains of the world haven't made an appearance in weeks. Then a nuclear warning hits Gotham, supposedly thanks to the Joker, but to think along those lines, with what the League is about to face, is far, far too narrow. Because when Darkseid shows up, its going to be a battle for the safety of the Earth. But who's actually fighting who?
1. A Nuclear Problem?

_A/N: This is probably the first story that I've actually taken the time to plan and mindmap and all that jazz, so please review and tell me what you think because I think this could end up being really good. I usually read the character's voices as I see them in the animated series, although this isn't based of that at all, so that's just what I'm going for._

_This chapter is merely for scene setting purposes, the real action begins in Chapter 2, but please read this any way to get it all going! Rating is going to be T for language just in case._

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><p><strong><em>"There was a war in heaven, and I won. Your future belongs to Darkseid now<em>****." - Darkseid**

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><p>Gotham city was completely and utterly deserted. With a nuclear threat being confirmed, and sources claiming that the Joker was behind it, all civilian life had ceased and fled to the outskirts. The military had barred all access into the city with a perimeter encasing the contaminate zone completely. The only problem was, there was no explosion. No warning. No nationwide, televised 'Joker' message. Nothing. Standing at the focal point of the perimeter was General Steven Luceno of the United States Military. Beside him stood Batman, stoic as ever and gazing into his binoculars, pointed directly at the city.<p>

"Still nothing" Genera Luceno said, "and it's been 3 hours." He looked at Batman, waiting for his response. The Dark Knight paused for a second.

"This can't be Joker. He wouldn't have gone to the trouble of acquiring a nuclear bomb and not made sure that I knew that it was him."

"And we have nothing." The General scratched his brow. In the distance, a foot soldier was sprinting towards them.

"Sir! Sir! You need to see this!" the young soldier said, handing the general an envelope. "its addressed to Batman." Batman stopped what he was doing and grabbed the envelope from the general's hands. It felt light, meaning it was merely paper. The stationary was very high quality. The handwriting was elegant, sophisticated and written in fountain pen. Batman pulled a small knife from his belt and flipped the letter over. The seal had an omega symbol stamped into it. Batman immediately put the envelope on the hood of the army truck and put his finger on his ear.

"This is Batman to all points. Code Red. Everyone available to my position, now!" Within minutes, 13 heroes had assembled alongside him; Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lanterns Hal and John, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, the Flash, Green Arrow, Zatanna, Hawkgirl, Huntress, Cyborg and Shazam. It was the best assembled team of superheroes since Braniac had invaded Star City last month.

"You think we'll be enough?" Green Arrow said, sarcastically.  
>"Maybe one more, 15 is a good number to for a team." Batman said, ignoring the sarcasm entirely. He pressed his finger on his ear once more. "Batman to Nightwing, we might need you here too."<p>

"What for?" Nightwing replied over the comm.

"We need one more person on this team and I want one of my own on this" he replied.  
>"On my way. What's this about?" He asked.<p>

"Best I tell you when you get here. Batman out."

Once Nightwing had arrived, he showed the envelope to Superman. Without a second glance, Superman scowled at the envelope and turned away from the group, clenching his fists hard enough to produce a diamond in his hand. After a few seconds, he turned around to face the group, with a look that could kill.

"Open it." Batman used his knife to slice through the seal and pulled out the paper inside. The paper read:

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><p><strong><em>Dear Batman,<em>**

**_I trust you to be the wisest of your colleagues to I have entrusted you to make the first move. I am certain that if you have not already summoned the league to read this together, you are about to._**

**_I will keep this short; I don't want to keep you waiting. If you and the other leaguers would be so kind as to make your way into Gotham and congregate at Robinson Park, you will find what you seek._**

**_Much obliged,_**

**_D_**

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><p>Batman gritted his teeth together. He knew it was a trap, so did everyone else.<p>

"We're still going in right?" Shazam said at the back of the crowd.  
>"Of course we are" replied Wonder Woman.<br>"Good luck!" the general said as they all made their way into the deserted city.

Robinson Park, much like the rest of Gotham at that moment, was very quiet. Huntress and Green Arrow covered the rooftops whilst Superman and the two lanterns hovered overhead. The rest of the leaguers were in the middle of the park, gathered around a round object. It looked like the computer terminal on the Watchtower, but it was black and red instead of blue, and it was hovering.

"I expected more" said a calm Martian Manhunter. Batman took out a scanner from his belt and examined the 'orb'.  
>"It's covered in tachyons." Batman said, backing away slightly. The rest of the group did as Batman did, knowing that if he backs away from something, it really isn't something to mess with.<br>"Tacky-what?" Huntress said, puzzled due to her lack of scientific knowledge.

"Tachyons are very rare and volatile particles that can travel through space, even through different dimensions. They could even take us with them when they next travel."

"Or bring something here," Batman interrupted. There was a silence that fell over the league while they contemplated their next move.

"At least we have something to do now. It's been over a week since any of us had anything big to deal with." Cyborg joked. Batman gave him a look as if to say _'not the best time'. _

Suddenly the orb started to hum and whirr erratically. Superman shot down to protect the others from harm, but a beam shot out and up into the sky. The energy beam seemed to hit a point and then it started to spread out.

"It's a force-field." Flash said. Then another beam shot out and hit the floor. It then rose, slowly revealing the being behind it; first a set of coal black boots and culminating in the gargantuan head of Darkseid. Superman immediately lunged for him, but John Stewart sent a green rope construct to pull him back.  
>"Easy Kal" He said, as Superman restrained himself.<br>"Greetings Justice League," the booming voice said.

"Darkseid." Superman said, almost snarling.

"Please Kal-El, don't flatter yourself. I am not here for only you." Darkseid said with an arrogant tone. "As the most powerful being in the galaxy, I am not often challenged. However, I am always open to anyone who can try."

"So you've come to fight us again? For sport" Batman said angrily.

"Oh no" Darkseid laughed. You won't be fighting me." Darkseid then raised his hand, and a third beam struck the floor beside him. "I'm sure Highfather has told you of Takion?" Darkseid said smugly. Superman suddenly looked very worried.

"I have harnessed his atomic shapeshifting powers to construct a tournament in my honour. You should be proud that I have chosen Earth as the battleground!"

The third beam then revealed Takion, standing in his golden suit of New Genesis armour, shackled and restrained. Darkseid then put his hand on his shoulder and Takion screamed in agony. A light shot out that blinded the leaguers. Batman shielded himself in his cape. The Green Lanterns protected everyone else in a giant bubble, but all efforts failed and they all were bluntly knocked into unconsciousness.

The first to awake was Shazam, who found himself and the other heroes in what looked like a military bunker. There was dirt and leaves everywhere, and the only source of light was an open door at the top of a flight of stairs. Shazam scratched his head and pondered waking the others up. He decided to investigate the door. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he couldn't believe what he saw. Gotham was a complete wasteland, broken buildings everywhere, no sign of any life. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a new building in the distance. It was Wayne Manor, except this twisted image was no playboy manor house; this was Darkseid's throne room; fiery pillars and statues in Darkseid's honour. As he turned around, he heard something that even with the courage of Achilles, made him jump.

"SHAZAM!"

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><p><em>AN: So what did you think? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I'll be bringing in some reader voting in later chapters so stick around!_


	2. Let the Games Begin

_A/N: So I decided to get straight into the second chapter seeing as it was so fun writing the first one. I hope you enjoyed it. As before, please keep reviewing and feel free to give any ideas/character requests and I'll see what I can do._

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><p>Shards or electricity flew across the sky, as Black Adam laid punch after punch onto Shazam. Shazam didn't know and didn't have the capacity to figure out why his nemesis was here, but that wasn't his main concern. Adam threw a wild, uncontrolled haymaker at Shazam, who countered and grabbed Adam's fist. He then swung his arm back and landed a shocking gut punch, winding Adam and giving him enough time to shout "SHAZAM!" and turn Adam, temporarily, back into his human form. As Shazam carried the Khandaq prince to a safe rooftop, he thought he should go and check on the others. Flying back to the bunker, he found it to be empty. He looked around the entrance and the surrounding area and found no trace of anyone moving. Then suddenly something hit him in the back and Shazam and the mysterious, bulky object fell down the flight of stairs into the bunker. As he peeled his face off the floor, he realised that he had been hit by Batman.<p>

"You okay Br...?"

"Don't" Batman interrupted, "be stupid." He gave him a glare as the light from the doorway was blocked by a large figure.

"I am glad the payaso didn't find you first, Batman," said Bane as he grabbed Batman by the leg and threw him outside as if he were a ragdoll. Batman threw out his cape to cushion his landing and grabbed a batarang from his belt.

"What are you doing here, Bane?" Batman said as he moved towards the masked foe.  
>"I have absolutely no idea, but when I woke up, I realised I was in Gotham, so I went out to see what I could find." As soon as Bane moved forward, he took a swift elbow to the back from Shazam, who had found his feet and stepped in to save his friend.<br>"I didn't need your help" Batman said, holstering his batarang. "We need to get to what's left of Wayne Tower, now." The two sped off towards the crumpled Waynetech sign in the distance.

Underneath the sign was Superman, who had just punched Bizarro the roof of the force-field that still encompassed the city. Midway through dusting his hands confidently, he saw Deathstroke about to ambush Green Arrow, who was midway through fighting Solomon Grundy. As he flew towards the masked assailant, he was tackled by another foe.

"Stay on the ground where you belong, son of Jor-El," said Zod who stood up and readied himself.

"What in Rao's name are _you _doing here?" He asked as he stood up.

"I woke up in a bunker with the rest of these fools. I figured it might be something to do with you."

As Zod started to block the incoming wave of punches from Superman, the two Green Lanterns flew overhead, chasing Sinestro and Atrocitus.

"Hey Hal," John Stewart said, "Remember when we played baseball on Oa?"  
>"Damn right" Hal replied with a smirk. John sped up and cut off the two fleeing lanterns and put them both in a green light ball construct. Hal then constructed a giant baseball and hit the two trapped attackers into the nearby building.<p>

Just coming into view was Zatanna, who had been thrown into the area by Circe. Circe would have been dealing with her sister if Cheetah hadn't already got there first. They were closely followed by two speedsters throwing punches at each other at the speed of sound. Flash had fought Zoom many times before and this was no different. Martian Manhunter had already dealt with Star Sapphire and had brought her to safety before giving Huntress and Hawkgirl a hand in taking down Gorilla Grodd.

The two Teen Titans members were taking down the Joker and Harley Quinn. Joker was a tad annoyed that Bane had reached Batman first, but the boy blunder would do nicely. Harley threw a contraption onto Cyborg who froze.  
>"Damn! My circuits are stuck." He said, looking at Nightwing. Nightwing however was a veteran in taking down the Clown and his girlfriend. Just as he was about to swing his bow staff, the giant news screen on the side of the 1st Gotham National Bank lit up.<p>

"Greetings to all of you," said Darkseid as his face filled up the screen. "You will all be wondering what is going to happen, so I'll be blunt. Having found that the Justice League assembled 15 of its members, I then assembled 15 of its greatest adversaries. The format is simple: There will be 8 rounds of which you will be tested. These will happen once a day. The members of the losing side will face elimination individually. Between each round, any physical injuries will be healed thanks to the radiation exerted by the force-field. I didn't choose that, it's just Takion trying to fight back. Unless the format of the round states otherwise, elimination is take through knockout, death, or should you pass through one of the 5 elimination gates spread around the city. Let it be noted that the location of these gates will change every round."

Everyone in the clearing had stopped fighting and was looking in utter amazement at each other. Not a word was said. "The first round begins now. There are 30 of you on the battle field. The first two to be eliminated from a side are permanently eliminated. BEGIN!"

There was a brief second of confusion before Sinestro rose up from the rubble he was under and threw a punch at Hal Jordan. Taking that as the starting pistol, the other 28 participants erupted into chaos; punches being thrown, bullets and batarangs flying in every direction. The first to fall was Cheetah, found herself wrapped in Wonder Woman's lasso and swung against a wall; 1-0 to the heroes. Batman was using serrated batarangs to combat Deathstroke's sword.

"You could just back down Slade," Batman taunted.

"Not in a million years" Deathstroke replied as he lunged at the caped crusader. Next the heroes lost a member, Aquaman, who had been watching tactically from a rooftop, had finally decided to enter the battle. He was met by Zod who countered his first punch as laid him flat out in seconds; 1-1.

Then things really started to heat up. Bizarro and Superman were having a freeze breath vs. fire breath battle, Batman had Deathstroke in a headlock and Flash was playing 'matador' with Zoom.

The interesting match-up was between Joker and Hawkgirl. Hawkgirl had been swinging her mace at Joker, who had rolled and dodged out of the way every time. She then went for a direct face lunge, to which he moved to the side.

"Over here, feathers!" he cackled, as he squirted acid onto her Nth metal belt, breaking the link and removing her from her powers. He then chopped her on the neck and she fell to the ground.

"And that would be 2-1." Darkseid's voice rang out through the arena. "Hawkgirl and Aquaman are permanently eliminated and shall be in containment."

"What does that mean?" said Wonder Woman.

"None of your concern, Amazon" Darkseid replied, "back to your bunkers."

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><p><em>AN: So there's round one. There was some things that I wanted to put in there, but didn't have time, so they'll be the start of Chapter 3. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! _


	3. Embrace your Inhibitions

_A/N: Once again, a quick upload after the previous chapter! Hope you like it as always. REVIEW!_

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><p>Back in the bunkers, the heroes and villains were passing the time until the next challenge. Since they weren't allowed outside their bunkers, things were getting pretty tiresome. In the heroes' camp, Hal had constructed chess sets with his ring and Batman was playing John, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow and Wonder Woman all at the same time. He was winning all 4.<br>"How the hell are we supposed to beat you? You have an IQ 150!" Green Arrow shouted as he kicked the wall at the sight of a checkmate.  
>"Don't be such a bad loser, Ollie." Batman said. It had become normal in the camp for their real first names to be used.<p>

"I still don't fully understand the rules." Wonder Woman said, trying to play off the fact that she fully knew the rules and just was horrific at it. J'onn didn't say anything. He respected the rules and therefore didn't use telepathy to see what Batman's next move was. He merely moved his Bishop diagonally forward 2 spaces.

"Check" he said, still emotionless from thought. John, meanwhile, was mumbling to himself about the possible moves that Batman could make.  
>"If I move the bishop to... then he'd... then I could sacrifice the pawn... but only if he then..." He probably wasn't even making sense to himself. He finally mustered up the courage to move his queen forward 2 spaces. Without even looking at the board, Batman moved his knight into position.<br>"Checkmate." John's head sank into his hands. "I believe we settled on two hundred?"

Whilst Batman destroyed his chess opponents, Superman took the time to examine his surroundings properly. The walls were lined with lead so his x-ray vision was useless. All there was in this dingy bunker was a stairwell to the door and a few flat, wall-mounted table-like objects that could also be used as makeshift beds, he thought. But what really played on his mind was what happened to Hawkgirl and Aquaman. Where were they? One thing he knew for certain; they weren't safe.

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><p>Over in the Villains camp, Joker and Grodd were playing cards. Solomon Grundy and Bizarro had apparently become 'best friends' and were talking nonsense about ponies and cheese. Deathstroke was sharpening his sword on the wall and the rest were taking the time to sleep.<p>

"I'll raise you, monkey-boy." Joker said with a cackle. He stared at the cards on the table: 8 of Diamonds, 9 of Diamonds, 10 or Diamonds, 10 of Hearts, 10 of Spades.

"I'm an ape." Grodd said with a sigh. "Are you really that stupid?" He called Joker's bet and turned his cards over. "Full House, 10s over 9s" Grodd smirked.

"Four 10s" Joker said as he collected his prize. Just as Grodd reached his hand over to grab Joker by the throat, a screen lowered from the ceiling of the bunker. Unsurprisingly, Darkseid's face showed up on the screen.  
>"Good Morning. Today marks the second round of 8. Before I reveal today's format, I believe it only fair to let you know that I have gathered some... enforcers" he said, as he turned away from the camera to show the row of beings behind him. "You, no doubt, are familiar with all of them; Doomsday, Mongul, Ares, Ultraman and Amazo. They are here solely to prevent you from breaking my rules."<p>

The Justice League, who were seeing this too, were planning their next move.  
>"That's quite a team." Flash said, almost complementing them. Darkseid then turned back to the computer.<br>"Back to the matter at hand; Round 2 is as follows: I have selected 3 members from each team to go head to head. However, you will each be limited somewhat."

"Oh shit." Green Arrow said. They all knew that it was as bad as it sounded.

"The selections are" Darkseid continued. "Deathstroke, you are to leave your guns in the bunker."

"A minor problem" Slade said as he placed his sub-machine guns on the floor and headed for the exit.  
>"Bane, I'm sure you can guess what I will deprive you of." Darkseid smirked.<br>"Of course, demonio" Bane said, unclipping the venom strand on his wrist. The effects were instantaneous. His muscles deteriorated, his height actually got smaller. When the evidently painful process had finished, he had the build of Batman; formidable, but by no means meta-human.

"Finally, Miss Quinzel, would you kindly step outside? Mongul is waiting for you. She looked at Joker, as a child asks for its parent's approval.  
>"Well go on then!" Joker said nonchalantly, ushering her with his hand. As she walked out of the door, there was a hush in the bunker; the anticipation of what Mongul was called in for had the entire group open-eared. There was a dead silence.<p>

"Hey! What are you..." was all Harley could mister before the sound of breaking bone echoed through the bunker.

"Was that really necessary?" Sinestro muttered, as he scratched his chin.

Over in the heroes' bunker, Superman was getting restless.  
>"Get on with it!" he said as he slammed his fist against the wall, nearly tearing it down in the process.<p>

"Very well," Darkseid didn't like to be rushed; it made him feel as if he wasn't in control. "Green Arrow, leave your bow behind. Flash, you will have your hands tied behind your back."

"As if that will stop me," Flash said as he rubbed his hands together readily, "who's third?"

"Hal Jordan" Darkseid smiled menacingly. "Remove your power ring."

"Are you out of your mind?" Hal said, jumping out of his seat, his face crinkled with anger.

"Quite the contrary, begin!" Darkseid said as the screen went blank.

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><p>Out on the battlefield, the combatants had assembled on opposing sides. Deathstroke had drawn his sword, Bane was cracking his knuckles and Harley was nursing a broken leg.<p>

On the other side, stood Green Arrow; practicing a few moves, Flash; fidgeting with the uncomfortable ropes binding his hands, and Hal Jordan; looking fairly nervous and feeble without his ring. Both sides had taken the tactical decision of sending out one member at a time. The heroes sent out Green Arrow, who was met with Bane. Without saying anything they engaged each other; Arrow swinging in with a roundhouse kick and Bane blocking with the elbow. Bane then tried a sweep kick to which Arrow flipped over cleanly. As he landed, Bane hit an elbow strike into the middle of Arrow's back and followed with a jab to the back of the head. As Arrow turned round, he made the mistake of throwing an uncontrolled punch, which was easily caught by Bane. With Arrow's fist in his hand, he twisted the arm, kicked the knee and finally brought his elbow down onto the arm. It was evident that the bone had been broken thanks to a protruding lump on Arrow's forearm. To finish his opponent; Bane merely head butted Arrow, who fell to the floor. 0-1.

Surprisingly, the next villain to venture out was Harley, who had used her wits (or what was left of them) and started to walk on her hands. She was met by Flash, who zipped in and hooked her arms out from under her with his leg. As she got up, Flash kicked her in the gut and gave a knee to the chin. 1-1.  
>"Didn't want to do too much damage" he said confidently as he walked back to his teammate.<p>

It was all down to a powerless Hal Jordan versus a meta-human mercenary with a sword and a lot of expertise.

As Hal walked forwards, he didn't look so nervous anymore. Deathstroke merely swung his sword impressively and readied himself for an immediate killing stroke. At about 5 feet apart, Hal stopped and looked at Slade.  
>"Come on then" he said calmly. Slade stepped forward and aimed for Hal's neck. Hal stepped to the side, and the blade missed him entirely. Slade felt very strange; only 3 humans had ever anticipated that. He grabbed the blade handle with both hands and was about to swing again, when Hal kicked him in the groin. He then clenched his hands together and brought them down on the back of Slade's head. 2-1.<p>

"And the round is over!" Darkseid's voice boomed over the arena, "The three villains are permanently eliminated." The screen went blank and the 3 villains were teleported away.

As they walked back to the bunker, Flash pulled back Hal.  
>"How did you even anticipate that, Hal?" He asked.<p>

"Bats told me Slade's tactics a month ago, back when the Suicide Squad was sent to kill us? Clever bastard worked it out in one fight." Flash laughed at him.

"If he can do that after one fight, imagine what he knows about the rest of the league." Flash suddenly realised the serious undertones of what he just said and his expression dropped.  
>"That's Bats for you." Hal said, as he patted him on the back. "Good job Barry."<p>

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><p><em>AN: So there is Round 2 and chapter 3 over with! With the days now returning to the work-day format, uploads will be a little slower. I'll try and get a chapter up every 2 days or so, depending on how much my workload is. NOW- in my next chapter, I would like to have some input from you guys. So, if you could review or PM me your vote for who you would like to see eliminated AND who you would like to see feature in the next round, I'll do my best to incorporate the ideas. Also, if anyone has a cameo idea, I'd be happy to listen. As always please review and tell your friends, if you liked it!_


	4. Joke's on You, Monkey Boy!

_A/N: So sorry for the lack of updating, had my birthday and work to deal with, now is the first bit of free time I've had in a while. Well, in terms of my vote, the replies I've had back have told me to make my own choices, so thank you all for having faith in me to make the right decisions! As I said in the last chapter, it'll be a chapter every day/2 days or so. Up comes round 3. Enjoy!_

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><p>Once again, the need to pass the time became quite a challenge. During the night, Darkseid had sent a message out saying that everyone was free to roam the city. There was, of course, no escape from the force-field and Darkseid's 'fortress' at Wayne Manor was pretty much impenetrable.<p>

Batman, being Batman, decided to survey the area, seeing as the shock of Darkseid's arrival had laid out the surrounding area and distorted the landscape somewhat. There was debris everywhere. Standing on top of the wreckage of Amertek Industries, he could see an absolute wasteland; lifeless and chaotic. Whilst staring at his binoculars, Nightwing walked up beside him.  
>"Anything interesting?" He asked.<p>

"I want to know what he's done to my house." Batman replied. He gritted his teeth slightly. "He's got his enforcers stationed outside; wouldn't bother trying to get in there."  
>"What do you think this is all about? I mean there must be some kind of goal here, he can't be doing this for fun." Dick looked confused. "Does he even know what fun is?"<p>

"He's a god from a planet that sits in between the physical universe and hell, and he's more close to the latter. Does that answer your question?" Batman said. Dick looked slightly surprised. He'd fought the most dangerous humans on an almost daily basis; he'd faced demons and aliens, but not gods. Batman put his hand on Nightwing's shoulder. "Don't worry, the league has beaten him before, we'll beat him again." Batman nearly gave him a smile, but that would, of course, go against the laws of nature.

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><p>Meanwhile, back at the bunker, Flash was trying to tell jokes to the others. He was on his sixth joke, meaning that Green Arrow had already smashed a 6 inch dent into the wall... with his own head.<p>

"And he said 'nice of you to drop in'." Flash said with an exuberant smile. Martian Manhunter started to laugh, thinking it was the right thing to do, then immediately realised the lack of amusement on the other people's faces. "Come on guys?" Flash said, slightly red faced. Saving Flash from more humiliation, the screen once again popped down from the ceiling.

"Good Morning, I have chosen today's contest to start early. It will be in the format of what I understand is known as a 'capture the flag' match."

"Aw sweet!" Flash said. "It'll take me half a second." The others looked distinctly pleased with this challenge.  
>"There will however be some stipulation; there are no elimination gates and Flash and Zoom are barred from competing." The expression of everyone in both camps practically hit the floor. "The participants will be as follows; Joker and Grodd will helm the villains' fight, whilst Cyborg and Huntress will be fighting for the heroes."<p>

"Alright, I've been waitin' to get out there and kick some ass." Cyborg said as he stood up, cracking his knuckles and readying himself. Huntress gave a hug to Zatanna and Wonder Woman before leaving.

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><p>Out on the battlefield the fight had become rather slow because neither side had found the flag. Both sides, although restless, were nonetheless prepared. Having made his way to an ammunition store, Joker was flaunting a rather large assault rifle. As the two villains walked out into the open area, he kissed the barrel lovingly.<br>"Joker, you disgust me." Grodd groaned as he turned away.  
>"Glad I'm doing my job right, monkey-boy" He cackled back.<br>"For the last time, I'm an ape!" Grodd turned to Joker and stood tall, puffing out his chest to extend his already gargantuan size.

"Alright, alright, calm down! Here, have a banana!" Joker held out a banana that he'd kept in his pocket. Grodd beat his chest, slapped the banana out of Joker's hand and glared at him menacingly.  
>"Okay... you're not hungry." Joker said, walking off. Just as he turned a corner, he stopped and hugged the wall by the side of him. He ushered Grodd to come over and join him. Without saying anything, he pointed around the corner. Grodd poked his head around to catch a glimpse. Standing in the middle of the street were Cyborg and Huntress running into an alleyway.<p>

"Wonder where they're going?" Joker said with a frightening grin.  
>"Let's find out" Grodd replied. "You're not going to like this." He said to Joker, before picking him up and climbing up the side of the building.<p>

As Cyborg and Huntress came out of the alley, they both smiled at each other. Sitting on a bench was the flag, rolled up and leant against the armrest. Cyborg laughed as he ran over to get it, whilst Huntress took the time to rest; they'd been running for hours. Cyborg picked up the flag; _this was easy, _he thought, _too easy_. He turned around to see Huntress, held in a bearhug by Grodd, whilst Joker nonchalantly groomed his fingernails.

"I'll have that flag now, Tin Man." He said, extending his pale, white hand.

"Over my cold dead body" Cyborg replied, clenching a fist.

"Oh good, we're in agreement!" Joker said cheerfully as he pulled a knife from his a jacket. Grodd, sensing that his cohort was in need of some fighting power, clenched his bearhug on Huntress so that she lost consciousness and dropped her like a sack of potatoes. Cyborg shot a phaserbeam at Joker, who dodged out of the way. Grodd leapt into the fray, thundering Cyborg with ferocious punches to the gut and finishing with an uppercut that dazed the circuits of the hero. Just as Cyborg was about to retaliate, a hand reached around and covered his mouth. "Night night!" Joker cackled, as Cyborg smelt the Joker toxin and fell to the ground. "I'll take that" he said as he pulled the flag out of the still clasped hand of the fallen Cyborg.

As Joker and Grodd were walking back to their bunker, Grodd was hit in the back with another phaserbeam. Joker, turning around, saw a weakened Cyborg.  
>"You mind givin' me the flag? Imma little pissed off so don't try anything." Cyborg said, approaching he clown and the downed ape. Joker held out the flag willingly. Just as Cyborg's hand was about to touch the flag, Joker halted him.<p>

"Now I could give you the flag, but on the other hand..." Joker's free hand suddenly clasped around Cyborg's wrist, electrocuting him with the concealed Joybuzzer. Cyborg fell to his knees; the shock temporarily leaving him unable to move. Joker threw the flag backwards to Grodd, who had composed himself. The clown then put his hand on Cyborg's shoulder and whispered to him "have a good elimination, Tin Man." With that, he stood up sharply, turned on his heels and walked briskly back to the bunker. "Come along, Monkey Boy!" Joker ordered. Grodd was about to retort, but thought better of it and merely sighed as he started walking. Joker waltzed around on his way, humming 'La Vie en Rose' and looking slightly happier than usual, which even for his teammates was a very bad thing.

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><p><em>AN: So there's round 3, will try and get another chapter up soon, but as the last week has shown, I wouldn't hold me to it. As always, Review Review Review! _


	5. Bunker Business

_A/N: Another mini-hiatus, but I'm on an official holiday from the world of Academia so I can relax and put some time into this. I think that, because they received such a good reception in the reviews, this chapter will consist entirely of 'Bunker Business' (yes, I'm naming it that.) I'm aiming to have a fair share between camps, but if that doesn't work out, I'll make it up to you later! Please Review as always!_

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><p>"Grundy the pretty one!"<p>

"Bizarro the pretty one!"

"GRUNDY THE PRETTY ONE!" This confrontation between the two 'less intelligent' members of the villain camp had been going on for half an hour. What was surprising was that they were arguing for each other.  
>"Bizarro the pretty one!" Said Grundy, "Bizarro have nice hair." He pointed to Bizarro's mangled hair, with a glum, dead-eyed stare.<p>

"Grundy think so?" Bizarro said, surprised at Grundy.

"You're both gorgeous!" said Star Sapphire, "now, would you shut up!"

"Sorry" they both said in unison, their faces drooping as they both sat down. The members of the camp were, once again, pretty damn bored. Darkseid had given the two camps a day's rest, he didn't say why, but they all knew that it wasn't generosity at work. With the doors still open for them to roam around, those villains who decided to stay were running out of options. Still left in the bunker were Grundy, Bizarro, Sapphire, Zod and Joker. Sapphire was trying desperately to get some sleep – she hadn't had the best night bunking with Cheetah. Joker was trying to hypnotise Zod with his pocket-watch, but that too was failing.  
>"You're getting sleepy. Listen to the sound of my voice." Joker said, swinging the watch from side to side. "Soon you will fall into a deep, deep sleep."<p>

"Oh I sincerely hope so." Zod said, slumping his head in his hands. "Can we please do something different?"

"We could go outside and play?" Joker said, jumping in the air, bursting with excitement; like a 6 year old on Christmas day. "Can we? Please? Please? Pleasepleaseplease?"

"And do what exactly?" Zod said, raising an eyebrow.

"I could draw a hopscotch course?" Joker said, imitating a hopscotch-like action with his fingers.

"No."  
>"Double-Dutch?"<p>

"No."  
>"Hide and Seek?"<p>

"X-Ray Vision."  
>"Tag?"<p>

"No."

"Catch?"

"With what?"

"Could you teach me how to fight?" said Joker, clenching a fist. Zod was just about to say 'no' when we paused. Tactically, it might be useful to teach some of the lesser skilled members how to perform and subsequently avoid attacks.

"For once, that's not a bad idea." Zod replied, standing up and walking over to the stairs. The expression that lit up Joker's face was a mixture of joy and maniacal pleasure, and was far beyond creepy.

Outside, the two stood facing each other, Joker rolling up his sleeves and holding his fists ready.  
>"Now Joker, I want you to throw a punch at me." Zod said, standing perfectly controlled, as if he knew the position of each individual muscle of his body. The clown leapt forward and swung a crazy right-hand at Zod who, without using his yellow sun gained abilities, stepped aside and watched as his 'student' hit the ground on his follow through. "Do you see why that failed?" Zod asked.<br>"Because you moved?" Joker said, peeling himself off of the floor.

"No, because you were too predictable; something I heard that you were apparently good at." As Joker brushed himself off, Zod pointed at him. "The reason I moved was because you were predictable. If you're predictable, then the heroes will beat you." His pointed hand clenched into a full fist.

"Well, I disproved that yesterday, did I not?" Joker said with a small giggle. Zod's face turned scarlet.

"YOU THINK THIS IS ALL A JOKE! YOU THINK EVERYTHING IS A JOKE! HOW ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE?!" Zod rushed and grabbed Joker by the throat. Raising his hand to punch a hole through the clown's head, he paused and considered his actions. He stopped, and pulled Joker close.

"If we get out of this, and I see you again, I will throw you into space."  
>"Ooh! Can you aim for Jupiter?" Zod grabbed Joker with two hands and threw him back into the bunker, breaking off the door in the process. Star Sapphire looked up and groaned.<p>

"Great," she said, "how are we going to keep the cold out now?" Joker giggled, laid his head back, and sighed.

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><p>Meanwhile, the Heroes' camp was much more vibrant. Green Arrow was sharpening his arrows... again. Batman and Superman were out somewhere. It was around 2am, everyone was sleeping, except Nightwing and Martian Manhunter.<p>

"So he adopted you then?" J'onn said.  
>"Yeah, he tried to keep the Bat-secret hidden from me, but I got kinda nosey and found the Batcave entrance by myself. I think he had half a mind to send me away again." Nightwing laughed. He hadn't spoken to J'onn on anything that wasn't mission-related.<br>"I'm sure Batman wouldn't do that. I don't have to read his mind to know that he isn't that heartless."

"I know that, he's been like a second father to me. No-one could every replace my real dad, but Bruce has done a stellar job. I owe him everything."  
>"Have you ever told him this?" J'onn asked.<p>

"Oh hell no; he'd never let me, he needs to keep up his stoic reputation." Nightwing chuckled at the though. He turned to J'onn, who had morphed into Batman.  
>"I may seem scary," he said, imitating Batman's voice perfectly, "but I'm actually a softy who likes jelly and butterflies and dancing." The two tried to keep their laughing down so to not wake the others.<br>"For the record," came Batman's voice in the doorway. The two stood up, J'onn morphed quickly back into his hero form. "I hate jelly." Nightwing and J'onn both looked at each other and tried not to laugh again. As Batman walked down the stairs from the door, Superman followed behind.

"You two should get some rest," he said, "If Darkseid's given us a day's grace, and he's planning something big for the next round..."

"You'll need to stop laughing at get to sleep." Batman interjected. Batman realised that he'd spoken too loudly. Shazam raised his head from the floor, one eye half open and still very tired.

"Go back to sleep, Billy" Superman said, folding his arms. Shazam rested his head back onto his makeshift pillow, made from his cape, and drifted back off to sleep. As J'onn and Nightwing turned in themselves for the night, Batman and Superman walked back outside and stood in the doorway; Superman leant against the doorframe and Batman pulled his cape around himself. The two looked out at the moonlit wasteland that was Gotham.

"It's going to be big tomorrow," said Superman.

"It may take everybody. I don't like this situation." Batman said, looking at what Darkseid had done to his house.  
>"At least we've had a day to prepare for it."<p>

"No, I mean this whole situation; being forced into a competition, seemingly for Darkseid's amusement. If that was his sole purpose, then why did he only choose to capture Gotham? Why not take the entire planet? He's certainly capable of it?" Batman turned to face Superman. "He's planning something bigger, Clark. You know it as well as I do."

"We'll stop him, don't worry. I mean in the end, he's still got us to go up against. We've beaten him before." Batman paused before retorting.

"We might not be the only ones he needs to worry about." Batman said as he turned back into the bunker.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Superman followed him. "Bruce?"

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><p><em>AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you were angling for the next round, fear not; It's on its way!_

_PLEASE REVIEW!_


	6. Bat in the Belfry

_A/N: Back to the competition! Hope you enjoyed the 'Bunker Business' but we're back to the real stuff now! Now, I'm kinda running out of ideas for each round so if you have any, don't be afraid to PM me! As always, REVIEW!_

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><p>Across both bunkers, the sound of Darkseid's voice boomed throughout, resonating in their minds as they awoke by it.<br>"Your rest is over." Flash rubbed his head as he sat up. "As you may notice, once of your teammates is missing." The leaguers all looked around, looking for who might be missing.

"He's right." John Stewart said.  
>"Yeah" said Flash, "where's Bats?" A flash of white shot across their faces; he may only be human, but he was arguably the most valuable member of the team; and he was gone.<p>

"The person you are missing is hidden somewhere in the city. 2 of you will be released to find them. The first team to return with their captured comrade will win. The losing 2 will be eliminated." The team shuffled around, all of them looking edgy, waiting to hear which ones of them would be competing. "Green Arrow and Zatanna, you will be searching for Batman. Good Luck."

Over in the villains' bunker, the group was deciding who was going to be sent to recover Sinestro.

"Circe and Atrocitus; Good luck." This bunker looked a lot more pleased with the selection.

"We've already won!" Joker shouted, throwing confetti from his pockets. "You just cast a search...spell...thingy. You'll find him in no time!" Before anyone else could add to Joker's brilliantly worded pep talk, Darkseid spoke again.

"You're challenge has been set. Begin!"

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><p>Out on the battlefield, Circe and Atrocitus stood on a rooftop. Circe was repeatedly trying to cast a spell to illuminate the location of Sinestro.<p>

"Why is this not working?" she said, frustrated by her lack of success. Atrocitus huffed at her and flew up, shining his Red Lantern ring around for any signs of life. Suddenly his ring flashed brighter.

"Signs of life detected" it spoke as it illuminated the direction of the unknown life-form.

"Easy." Atrocitus laughed as he followed the path of light. Circe flashed a look of contempt before following him, reluctantly. As the two approached the source of the life-form, they realised that they were being lead into the sewers. Circe tried to shoot a fireball at the hinges to the sewer entrance. She failed. Atrocitus rolled his eyes. "Useless." Out from his ring came a claw that ripped the door off the wall and threw it behind them. As they both stepped into the sewer, they realised that the life-form had stopped moving.

"Are you sure this is Sinestro?" Circe asked. Atrocitus gritted his teeth.

"It better be." The rushed towards their target, but found a locked door in the way. Circe raised her hands to try a spell. Atrocitus raised his hand to stop her. "I've got this." He said, as he jumped up and kicked the door square off its hinges.

"NO!" shouted a voice in the dark room ahead. Inside the room was a man, dressed in a ripped shirt and shorts. He sat, quivering in the corner. "Don't hurt me! I've been trapped in here for days!"

Atrocitus looked at Circe and grinned.

"You know, I haven't eaten in hours." He said as he advanced towards the screaming man. "He's a little thin, but he'll do." Circe backed away, leaving Atrocitus to his meal and carried on with the search.

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><p>As for the heroes, Zatanna was having the same magical malfunction problems that Circe was facing. Green Arrow on the other hand had no disadvantage; this was merely a routine search and rescue mission for him, and he had no problem in letting Zatanna knowing it.<br>"This is routine for me!" he shouted over his shoulder. Zatanna rolled her eyes, trying to keep up with him. Although she was physically fit, she still had a hard time keeping up with him.

"For the fourth time, Ollie, I know." Suddenly he stopped running. Zatanna very nearly collided with him if she hadn't been paying attention. He stared at his heat seeking satellite system and saw that 3 readings were coming from the Gotham University Auditorium just ahead.

As they entered the Auditorium, it became abundantly clear as to what their challenge really was.

In the middle of the hall were Batman and Sinestro, chained to upright tables. Batman had lost his utility belt, whilst Sinestro was missing his power ring. All seemingly simple... that was until they saw Ultraman standing in between them, arms folded, with an arrogant, cocky expression on his face.

"So, which one are you after?" He said, his voice booming throughout the room.

"I think we'll leave Forehead for someone else." Green Arrow said, running towards Batman. Just before he got to him, Ultraman fired his heat vision in front of Green Arrow's feet.  
>"Whoa! Hold your horses there, Robin Hood." Ultraman said, putting himself in between Arrow and Batman.<p>

"Haha," Arrow said, laughing sarcastically, "Never heard that one before." Ultraman pushed Arrow back; he landed on top of Zatanna.  
>"Glad to break your fall," she groaned, "Care to get off of me now?"<p>

"Sorry." Arrow stood up and fired an arrow at Ultraman. Mid-air, the arrow exploded and fired an electrified net at Ultraman. It entangled him, but he stood firm, and ripped the net apart with one hand.  
>"You'll have to do <em>a lot <em>better than that, thank you very much." Ultraman smirked. Arrow then had a thought, it wasn't a nice thought, but it would work. He turned around to face Zatanna.  
>"Don't tell Clark about this." He turned back around and pulled out another arrow. This one however was different; the arrow head was glowing. Taking care not to kill him, he shot it into Ultraman's knee. Instantly, Ultraman fell to the ground, clutching his wound.<p>

"Kryptonite? Where the hell did you get that?" Zatanna shouted.

"I gave it to him" said Batman. "All of the original 7 are given access to Kryptonite. However, with Green Arrow being a merely human, like myself, I gave him some just in case."

"Are you that distrusting of Superman?" Zatanna said.  
>"No. I'm planning for every possible outcome. No would you get me out of this?" The two heroes untied Batman's chains. Zatanna spotted Batman's utility belt placed in the stands.<p>

As the three moved out of the Auditorium back door, they heard the front doors crash behind them.

Atrocitus and Circe burst into the room and say the aftermath of what had transpired. Batman, Zatanna and Green Arrow left the auditorium to the tune of Atrocitus' angered screaming.

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><p>Later, at dusk, Batman and Zatanna were standing outside.<p>

"So you have contingency plans for everything?" Zatanna asked.

"Yes. I have records on everyone in the league, including what to do if they ever decide to go against the league, even myself."

"Well, if it's one thing we can count on you to be, it's being thorough."  
>"You can count on me for much more than that." He almost let out a smile. "Come on, I think they're playing chess again."<p>

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><p><em>AN: So there's another chapter! I'll try to get the next one up fairly soon. Thanks for reading and as always, please review!_


	7. Suffering Losses

_A/N: Back again! Just to give a brief time scale, I have about 4 more rounds planned and then I'll spend about 2 chapters giving a fitting closure. No hints as to what it is because I don't want to spoil it, but I didn't want you all to think that this was going to drag on. As always – PLEASE REVIEW! It really helps me see what you all think and gives me that extra bit of confidence and enthusiasm that I sometimes need! Anyway – ENJOY!_

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><p>The crash thundered across the battlefield, as Wonder Woman was thrown into the side of a building by Mongul. Behind him, Hal Jordan was preparing a hard-light hammer to bring down on him. Mongul grabbed Wonder Woman by the throat and held her against the rubble. She clasped around his gigantic hands, then ushered Mongul to look behind himself. As he did, the hammer hit him square in the jaw and he relinquished his grip on Wonder Woman to throw a rage induced haymaker right as Hal. A few feet away, Flash was helping up Nightwing, who had taken a large knock at the start of the fight. In today's round, Darkseid had setup each side with 4 combatants to fight against one of his enforcers. He had originally planned for Ultraman to be involved, but thanks to Green Arrow, he was temporarily out of action. The aim for each team was to beat their opponent before the other side beat theirs, with the losing 4 being eliminated.<p>

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><p>Meanwhile, a team of General Zod, Joker, Sinestro and Grundy were fighting Doomsday. Sinestro and Zod were taking the brunt of the workload, whilst Joker was setting traps around the battlefield. Grundy was momentarily distracted by a passing butterfly which had landed on a bench. He stood there, gazing at the brightly coloured lepidopteron specimen, as it balanced on the armrest of the bench. Grundy briefly smiled before the bench was crushed under the weight of Doomsday, who was thrown into it by Zod. He felt that bitter sting of heartbreak that reminded him how human he really was. He then quickly got angry and jumped onto Doomsday and started pounding away at his face.<p>

"YOU KILL GRUNDY'S FLUTTERBY!" He said as he attempted to demolish Doomsday's head. He went to thrown one more punch which was caught by Doomsday, who had barely a scratch, and Grundy was then head butted with the strength of a kryptonian and sent flying into the distance. As Doomsday stood up, he was sent stumbling backwards by a flying kick from Zod. In doing so, he then stepped on one of Joker's mines. Instead of exploding, it sent up electricity to shock him into submission.

"I think you should pull the plug on this fight!" Joker laughed, as he dusted his hands triumphantly. As Doomsday knelt down in pain, Sinestro went over to finish the job. As he swung his hand up and created an anvil to drop on him, Doomsday shot up and grabbed Sinestro by the neck. Using his other hand, he took Sinestro's left hand and squeezed it until all the bones shattered. The screaming that followed even made Joker wince. Doomsday then threw Sinestro aside, knocking him out and then turned to his remaining 3 opponents.

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><p>Back with the heroes, Flash was running rings around Mongul. Literally. He was speeding up to the point where Mongul was beginning to stop breathing. However, Mongul picked up the strength to swing an arm wildly into Flash's path, clotheslining him and taking him out of the equation. Wonder Woman threw Nightwing to give him some more momentum as he flipped over Mongul and kicked him in the back of the head. As he landed, he used the electric end of his staff to zap Mongul in the back of the leg. As Mongul knelt down, he felt another zap in his shoulder, then his back, then the back of his head.<p>

"I HAVE HAD ABOUT ENOUGH OF THAT THING!" He said, shooting up and grabbing Nightwing. He held Nightwing by the throat and took the staff from his hand. "I have an idea for my own elimination." He said with a smile, as he drove the staff deep into Nightwing's chest. As the flesh in his back parted with the force of the staff, Nightwing tried to muster up a cry, but no words were spoken. Crippled by the pain, his body started having spasms.

"Nightwing!" Hal shouted as he and Wonder Woman rushed over. Wonder Woman tackled Mongul away whereas Hal caught Nightwing as he fell and held him in his arms. "It's going to be alright, Richard, don't worry." Hal franticly looked around for any sort of help; Flash was still unconscious, Wonder Woman was reshaping Mongul's face and no one else was around.

"You..." Nightwing tried to speak, "know... I...hate...being...called...that..." He showed a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Tell...Bruce..." he strained again with pain, "I'm sorry." As he said it, the colour rapidly left his face and his eyes seemed to darken. A few spasms and his body went limp. Hal's face contorted and he laid down Nightwing's body. He then shot up to help Wonder Woman. '_How's Bruce going to take this?'_ He wondered.

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><p>Elsewhere, the villains were on a losing streak; Sinestro was down, Joker was missing and Grundy was just plain stupid, so Zod was doing all the work. He was losing.<p>

"Will any of you please give me some backup here?" He shouted, dodging wave after wave of furious attacks from Doomsday. Zod jumped back to avoid a haymaker and then Doomsday leapt into the air and aimed a fist directly at Zod's chest. Just before he landed it, he was hit in the side with a large boxing glove, made out of hard yellow light. Zod turned to see Joker floating in mid-air and wielding Sinestro's power ring.

"I like this doohicky" he cackled. He picked up Doomsday in a hard light bubble and brought him closer. "Consider yourself popped." He then crushed Doomsday inside the bubble. "We won!" he said, cheering and fist pumping.

"About time." Zod said, folding his arms. Over with the heroes, Wonder Woman was about to throw a final, knockout punch when they froze. Darkseid's voice boomed around the battlefield.

"The Villains have one. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash. You are eliminated. I shall leave Nightwing's body as a courtesy."

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><p>"WHAT?" Batman said, turning to the monitor, back in the bunker. His face dropped. It was probably the first time any of the heroes, bar Superman, had seen Batman show any emotion other than anger. He had to lean against the wall, in case he fell over. He didn't make eye contact with anyone; he just looked at the floor. All he could was whisper softy. "No."<p>

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><p><em>AN: So there's round 5! Hope that wasn't too much heartbreak for you! I think I'll add in a short segment on Batman's internal thoughts in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time. As always- PLEASE REVIEW!_


	8. Division of Grief

_A/N: So I'm back again! Nothing really to say here, just that I hope you enjoy this round and that you continue to read! As always; PLEASE REVIEW!_

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><p>Throughout the entire night, Batman was silent. He went outside the bunker soon after the news about Nightwing was heard. Superman had tried to console him, but Batman just carried on, as if he wasn't there. Ever since he set out to be the scourge of crime in Gotham, his mind had been organised, focussed and clear. For the second time in Bruce's life, he didn't know what to do. Losing Jason was one thing, and at least he was resurrected, but here; there may be no hope of escape. Dick was his first Robin. To Bruce, Dick was the closest thing he had to a son. (<em>AN: That's a clue to the time period I'm going for here.) _And now Richard Grayson is gone. And so, standing alone on a rooftop, looking out into the wasteland, Batman mustered up the courage to say;

"No more." He felt his face tense with pain, but he did not cry.

"No more what?"Said J'onn behind him. Batman turned around to see the Martian sitting on an air vent. Batman simply stared at him, his stoic expression slowly returning. "I said: no more what?" J'onn said again. Batman once again chose not to respond. "I know how hard it is to lose someone you care about. I lost my entire race, just like Clark." Batman folded his arms.

"Are you trying to make my problem seem insignificant?"

"No! I just..." J'onn sighed, "I just want you to know that you are not alone. The pain hurts, I know, it burns. You've lost your parents and now your adopted son, there's no way that you're not feeling that agony." Batman gave the smallest of nods. "But right now, we need to focus on Darkseid. He must not achieve whatever it is that he is after. We all know this isn't just for his fun."

"I'm not sure he is capable of fun." Batman said. "We should probably get back in time for the next round."

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><p>When morning arose, so did Darkseid's challenge for that day.<br>"Your challenge today will be mixed gender 2v2 elimination. The first pair to be knocked unconscious wins. Heroes, with Zatanna being your only female combatant, she will be joining Batman in the battlefield." Batman stood up. He wasn't surprised; this was his first battle in a while. "Villains, Star Sapphire and Grodd are selected. Begin!" The two villains headed out the door and made their way to the central battle arena. This time, the arena had been fitted with a full barrier around it. It was almost a full sporting arena if it weren't for the fact that it was crudely made out of the rubble of a destroyed city. As all four combatants entered the arena from their respective sides, they each took time to talk tactics.

"So how are we going to do this?" Zatanna said. Batman didn't even look at her.

"You take Sapphire, I'll handle Grodd." He replied.

"I wouldn't piss off Batman if I were you; you know what happened to Nightwing. He might be angry." Star Sapphire said.

"Really? And here I was thinking I was the genius." Grodd replied with whimsical sarcasm. It was Zatanna who made the first move, stepping forward and readying herself.  
>"Llaberif" she said as she hurled a swarm of fire at Star Sapphire, who dodged and flew up into the air, Zatanna chasing after. Grodd, meanwhile, merely walked up to Batman.<p>

"I don't really want to fight you. I have children. I know the fear of losing them and I can't imagine how you're feeling now that it's actually happened to you. You have my deepest condolences."

"Thank you" Batman replied. Even though he was surprised at the sentimentality of Grodd's words, he didn't change his expression. Grodd held out his hand, ushering Batman to shake. Batman hesitated for a considerable moment, just long enough to make it awkward. He reluctantly reached out to shake Grodd's hand. As he clasped around the gargantuan limb of Grodd, he was pulled in and clothes-lined by Grodd's huge, muscled arm. He back flipped just quickly enough to land on his feet, and turned around, gritting his teeth and face contorted in anger.

"I really do feel sorry for you Batman, but we can't forget why we're in this arena." Grodd said, shrugging his shoulders. Batman rushed towards him, aiming a right handed punch. Just as Grodd was about to grab it, Batman slid underneath Grodd, through his legs, and put a bat-claw straight into Grodd's ankle. He screamed with pain as Batman stood up and pulled on the rope, yanking Grodd forwards as his leg went up. Batman then tied the rope around a boulder and walked slowly over to Grodd's head.  
>"This is really going to hurt." He said.<p>

Back with Zatanna and Sapphire, Zatanna had Sapphire caught in a ball of ice. Sapphire's attempts to get out were failing, and more importantly, she was losing air.  
>"Come on, Z. Let me out?" Sapphire said.<p>

"And make it easy for you? No way, sister!" Zatanna replied. As the bubble grew smaller, Sapphire started to feel the pressure. Moments later, he head was resting on the bottom. Zatanna released the bubble and just as she did, Sapphire leapt into action, landing a right cross on Zatanna, knocking her out instantly and sent her falling 15 feet to the ground. Batman heard the thud she made, turning around, still gripping Grodd in the arm-lock.

"Brilliant." He rolled his eyes under his cowl. Grodd forced himself out of the lock while Batman was distracted. As he pulled himself onto his feet, he clutched his ankle, trying to pull the claw out from his flesh. Batman advanced towards him, but he was spotted by Star Sapphire, who shot a beam of violet light at him. In one swift move, Batman kicked Grodd in the temple, putting him out for the fight, and dodged the beam of light but using Grodd to pull himself away.

"Just you and me, Batman" Sapphire said. She threw a set of violet beams at him, to which we dodged them all acrobatically. On the last beam, he threw a batarang midair towards her. She caught it just before it hit her power ring. "Oh come on. You got anything better than that?"

Without saying a word, Batman stood up, nodded at her and walked back towards the entrance to the arena. He let out a small smile as he heard the explosion and following thud on the ground.

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><p><em>AN: So that's the next chapter done! Hope you enjoyed it. I'm planning to do a chapter at some point that looks at the heroes who aren't trapped in Gotham. I already have a few in mind but if you want some specific heroes (or villains) then just PM me or leave it in a review! Thanks as always. PLEASE REVIEW!_


	9. Switching it Up

_A/N: I'M BAAAAACK! So here's the next round! I've decided against the idea of doing a chapter for the heroes not in Gotham, I'll move than someplace else and probably have them in a new story. Anyway, here's the next round! As always, PLEASE REVIEW! _

It had been nearly 48 hours since Nightwing's death. After the incident with Grodd, Batman was becoming more and more mistrustful of those who tried to talk to him about it. He'd been spending more time outside on his own than in the bunker with the others; not unlike him but they could tell he was putting more effort than usual to avoid them. As the sunlight started to streak through the door hinges, the heroes gently started to wake up. It was just the right amount of light; not blinding but not too dark.

"Good Morning!" Shazam said as everyone pulled themselves up to stand. Suddenly the light exploded through the door as Batman kicked it open and walked in. He didn't make eye contact with anyone and walked over the corner of the room and stood with his back to it, getting a panoramic view of the room. He said nothing.

"Are you…" J'onn started to say before Batman's fist pounding on the wall interrupted him. He started to speak, not shouting but with a stern tone as if to say _don't piss me off._  
>"I am not going to talk about it again until we have dealt with Darkseid. Am I clear?" He raised his head and made eye contact with everyone individually, stopping with Superman last. With him, he held the contact for longer. Superman moved his lips as if to begin a syllable but reconsidered.<br>"Okay, Okay!" Superman held his hands up and took a step back, breaking the eye contact as hastily as he could. There was a brief awkward silence, to which Shazam reacted by making a turtle shape out of his hands, before the screen came down from the ceiling and the picture fizzed into Darkseid's face.

"Greetings to the remaining 7 heroes. Today we see another 2v2 challenge. However, you will not be fighting like yourselves. Each combatant will have their equipment removed and be given the respective equipment of another member of their team; another interesting test for the combatants." The members of the bunker looked around, eyeing up their teammates gear. "John Stewart, you are to remove your power ring." John pulled off his ring, with his lantern uniform receding to show a leather jacket, t-shirt and jeans underneath.

"And what exactly am I fighting with? Kryptonian DNA?!" He said sarcastically.

"No." Darkseid replied. "Batman's utility belt." Batman tilted his head slightly. He did not like this idea. He turned to John, who just shrugged his shoulders and held his arm out waiting for the belt. Batman slowly and reluctantly removed the belt and pressed a switch on the underside of the belt buckle.

"Just to stop the theft prevention system." He said before passing it over. Darkseid then cleared his throat.

"Superman, if you would kindly freeze over Zatanna's mouth so that she cannot talk?" Superman scowled at the screen.

"No! I will not harm my friend for your amusement, monster!" He shouted, clenching his fists.

"Well then I'm sure Ultraman or Amazo will find a much more painful way of securing her…" Darkseid replied. Superman scowled even more, gritting his teeth this time too. He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Z" he said, as he blew onto her mouth and she felt he jaw stiffen. Completely killing the tense mood came the sound of Shazam giggling to himself.  
>"Haa haa! It looks like an icy 5 o'clock shadow!" His laughter stopped abruptly when Zatanna shot a look of similarly icy proportions back at him.<br>"Now" Darkseid said, "if you would take Green Arrow's bow and quiver and make your way to the battlefield with the Lantern?" John cracked his knuckles as he and Zatanna walked up the stairs to the outside.

On the battlefield, John and Zatanna hid their eyes from the blinding sun. As their eyes adjusted, the two silhouettes slowly emerged in front of them as Bizarro and Cheetah. Cheetah was standing far in front of Bizarro, but a bit of perspective showed that she was just taller than him. Zatanna took a second to work it out.

"What the f…? Oh." She stopped herself as she saw Bane's VENOM gauntlet on her forearm. John couldn't help but start to giggle when he saw Bizarro holding Deathstroke's pistols. Cheetah cracked the joints in her neck and then her knuckles before advancing towards the two heroes.

As the sounds of the fighting echoed through the doorframe, the heroes' camp lay in wait of the result and the possible return of their comrades. Batman constantly rubbed his waist, not used to having his suit on without his famed utility belt. Superman was pacing across the room with hands held behind his back and a discerned look upon his face.

"How can we not have any inclination as to what he's planning?" Superman asked, looking around the room to anyone that was listening.

"Maybe he's better than us." Shazam said, sitting up from the floor. There was a brief pause in amazement at what was just said.

"No." Batman's voice pierced the silence. "He's using us for something. There's something he want's but it's something that only one of us can get." Martian Manhunter raised an eyebrow.

"It's not exactly Darkseid's MO to ask for help, even if his methods are unorthodox."

"He might not have a choice." Superman replied.

Meanwhile, John and Zatanna were teaming up against Cheetah whilst Bizarro sat on the ground figuring out how to use his guns. Zatanna wasn't exactly the most skilled archer but she was managing to at least hit the target. John was doing mildly better with Batman's utility belt, but was only able to find smoke pellets to throw.

"Dammit Bats, isn't there anything I can use offensively in here?" he said under his breath, dodging a one-two punch from Cheetah. Switching from pocket to pocket, John finally found a batarang. He threw it towards Cheetah, who was busy avoiding wayward arrows from Zatanna. As she turned to dodge another arrow, the batarang hit her square in the cheek, piercing the flesh and causing her to scream and her body buckle with the pain. John followed up with a flying kick to the back of the head. One down, one to go.

The two fighters then turned their attention to the hapless Bizarro, still not making any progress on the guns. They both ran at full speed towards Bizarro, who hadn't even noticed that he was their new target. Zatanna jumped up to distract Bizarro whilst John disarmed him and picked up his guns.

"You don't happened to have any blue kryptonite do you?" John said jokingly. Zatanna smirked as she telekinetically hurled a boulder at Bizarro to distract him. John searched the belt further, trying every pocket for something useful. "Freeze grenade, batarangs… wait what?" John reached into the last pocket to pull out a small clear bag with a crystal of blue kryptonite and a crystal of green kryptonite. "Jeez, is Bruce ever _not _prepared?" he said as he took out the blue kryptonite and threw it at Bizarro. Bizarro caught it in his hand as he stood up from the rubble.

"Bizarro am dizzy…." He said as he swayed side to side. John and Zatanna both ran at Bizarro at the same time, John landing a haymaker to Bizarro's jaw and Zatanna kicking him in the gut. He slumped down on to the ground. The round was over.

_A/N: Sorry it's been so long. I've only got a few more chapters left of this then I can move on to a new exciting project I've had in mind for a while. Thanks for sticking with this! _


	10. VIP

_A/N: Nothing really to say here, just enjoy? As always, review!_

* * *

><p>In the heroes' camp, the mood was surprisingly ok. Batman was being understandably quiet, but everyone else was nonetheless confident in their victory.<br>"By my calculations, we're outnumbering the other camp." Martian Manhunter said.

"By one" muttered Batman, sending the room's mood to the floor.

"I was just trying to boost morale… I"

"Morale?" Batman stood and squared up to J'onn, "We don't even know what Darkseid's plan is here? How can you…" Superman moved in to pull Batman away.

"He was only trying to help, Bruce." Superman said, placing his hand on Batman's shoulder.  
>"I would've though J'onn would be the one who thinks of the bigger picture, not just morale!"<p>

Just as Batman shrugged off Superman's hand, the screen opened from the ceiling and once again revealed Darkseid's face.

"Good day. Today's challenge is simple. Two from each team are selected to protect a third, whilst also trying to take out their oppositions' selected teammate. From scanning your world's video games database, I believe this is known as a VIP match."

"Cool, I love Call of Duty!" Shazam said, his face lightening up.

"Today's combatants are as follows – Batman, Shazam and J'onn J'onzz for the heroes, Professor Zoom, Black Adam and Grundy for the villains. Batman and Zoom are the VIPs." The screen flickered before going black. Batman and J'onn both headed for the door immediately.

"But he didn't say _begin_?" Shazam said, imitating Darkseid's booming voice. Both Batman and J'onn turned to give him a condescending look. "Okay going out there anyway then…" he said, following them up the stairs.

* * *

><p>At the same time, the villains made their move and Zoom didn't like the way he was being 'protected.'<br>"Will you put me down? It may surprise you to know that I _can _actually walk." Zoom shouted.

"General man told Grundy to take care of yellow man." Grundy muttered, with Zoom slung over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Black Adam walked further in front of them, scouting the area.

"When we get back, I'm going to kill Zod." Zoom said under his breath. Without warning, Adam shot into the air. Grundy, who was looking in pretty much every other direction than up, hadn't realised that Shazam had done exactly the same as Black Adam, and the two were fighting in the sky. J'onn and Batman climbed over a boulder to see the Zoom and Grundy.

"Go J'onn, I can handle myself." Batman said. J'onn flew into the air and made straight for Grundy and Zoom. Grundy saw him and picked Zoom off his shoulder.

"Finally" Zoom said, taking a deep breath. Unfortunately for him, Grundy then threw him at the oncoming Martian Manhunter. J'onn easily phased through the flying speedster and punched Grundy in the jaw and subsequently, through a wall.

Zoom on the other hand managed a surprisingly good landing, swirling his arms around to cushion his fall. Surveying the area around him, Zoom took the advantage given to him and hid from the battle.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, outside the force field, a large group had gathered by the original military convoy. General Luceno's tent was filled with some of the best heroes not inside Darkseid's game: Robin, Batgirl, Supergirl, Vixen, Hawkman and Guy Gardner.<p>

"What do we have here General?" Batgirl asked.

"From what I know this is all Darkseid, other than that, all I know is that we can't get in at all. This force-field is tough…. really tough" he replied.

"Do we have any contact from the inside at all?" Robin said, stepping in front of Batgirl.

"Not in the slightest. We can't even see whatever is happening in there."

* * *

><p>Back in the battlefield, Manhunter was dodging Grundy's flailing haymakers whilst Shazam and Adam were throwing each other around. Adam grabbed Shazam and kneed him in the stomach and, with a hard elbow, sent him hurtling towards the concrete and flew after him. Just before Shazam hit the floor, Adam kicked him in the back of the head, increasing the strength of the collision between the concrete and Shazam's face.<p>

"You still haven't managed to use those powers of yours properly, boy. The wizard was a fool to give them to you." Adam said, smirking as Shazam tried to stand.

As Adam laid punch after punch into Shazam, Zoom crouched behind a rock watching the action. He wasn't even paying attention to Grundy because any fool knew that Manhunter had that one covered easily. Suddenly he felt all his muscles tense. He let out a scream as his body slumped to the floor in agony. Behind him stood Batman with a Taser in hand. As Zoom rolled onto his back, Batman kicked him in the head, knocking him out.

Suddenly Darkseid's voice came booming across the battlefield.

"As I expected, the heroes have won. Proceed to your bunkers immediately." As Batman stood up, he gave a nod to Manhunter and Shazam, whilst Grundy, Zoom and Black Adam were removed from the battlefield forcibly by Mongul and Ares.

When they returned to the bunker, Shazam turned to Superman.

"Flash totally needs better bad guys."


	11. Win It All or Lose It All

_A/N: Nothing really to say, let's get straight in!_

As the sun rose, General Zod was the first to leave the bunker. Seeing that no one from the heroes' bunker had done the same, he took the opportunity to go and examine more of their surroundings.

Being Kryptonian, Zod's power comes from a yellow sun, and this seemed to the perfect time for a re-charge.

Over at the heroes' camp, Batman and Green Lantern were talking.

"These challenges keep getting weirder" John said.

"He's testing us. Trying to find out our strengths and weaknesses in different scenarios," Batman replied, "I think this is Darkseid's version of a job interview."

Almost impeccably on-cue, Darkseid's face came over the monitor overhead.

"Combatants, both sides are required in the centre of the battlefield" He said.

As the remaining combatants assembled in the centre of the field, Flash started to smirk.

"Kinda unfair numbers, right?" he said. For the heroes, Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Zatanna, John Stewart and Shazam. For the villains, only Zod, Joker and Sinestro.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Flash" Darkseid said as his voice boomed over the battlefield. "As of this moment your teams are disbanded." Most of the heroes moved uneasily and looked around, only Batman and Martian Manhunter stood as statues. "Today is the final round. There will be no end until the round finishes and the format is simple: the last combatant standing shall win."

"And if we refuse to fight?" Superman said, stepping forward.

"I was hoping you would ask that, Kal-El." Darkseid smiled. "Should you make the unwise decision to not fight for me, the rest of the combatants from this event shall die." From the rubble of the destroyed GothCorp building, the screen flashed on. What followed made Batman clench his fists. Martian Manhunter noticed this.

"_Isn't that the cave?" _he said, telepathically. Batman gave the smallest of nods. The screen showed the main hub of the batcave, with all the fallen heroes and villains surrounded by some kind of force-field. Around them stood Ares, Ultraman, Mongul, Doomsday and Amazo.

"I'm going to destroy you for this." Superman said. Darkseid laughed.

"You may try. Now b-." Before he even finished, Zod had tackled Superman through a wall. Everyone apart from Shazam and Joker seemed to be apprehensive to fight.

"Let's get this party started." Joker said, waving his crowbar. He lunged towards Zatanna, swinging his weapon up ready.

"Yawa Mih Kconk" she said, and Joker flew back, hitting the deck hard.

"I'll handle him." Batman said, walking towards Joker.

"Awww I feel special!" Joker laughed, pulling himself to his feet. Sinestro however was much less pleased with the situation. Standing before him was an eager Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Zatanna and Green Lantern.

"You could just take the ring off now, forehead." Green Arrow said, drawing his bow.

"The word surrender doesn't appear in my vocabulary" Sinestro said, creating a two yellow spikes on his wrists. "Shall we begin?" He made eye contact with everyone he was about to face.

Meanwhile, Superman was being thrown through building after building by Zod, who didn't seem to let up. Just before he could do it again, Superman used his freeze-breath to freeze Zod's hand to a steel bar.

"You won't win Zod" he said, crossing his arms.

"You underestimate me, son of Jor-El." Zod replied, as he lashed out a kick that hit Superman in the shin. As Superman winced in pain, Zod grabbed him by the neck and threw him up into the air over the middle of the battlefield. As Superman hung in the air, steadying himself, Zod came flying up and punched Superman square in the jaw, dazing him and throwing him even further into the air.

Just as he came to, Superman hit the roof of the force-field surrounding the city. As the large waves of energy passed through him, everyone else on the battlefield turned and looked up as they heard his screaming. Zod flew back slowly, out of the way of Superman as he fell to the ground.

His unconscious body hit the floor, disappeared, and then reappeared on the screen next to the other fallen heroes and villains.

Superman had been eliminated.

Infuriated, Shazam shot up to attack Zod, his hands charging with lightning. He swung back, put every ounce of strength he had behind it. Zod simply caught his fist mid-swing.

"Not that I'm rooting for Zod, but that was impressive." Green Arrow said.

Zod, then threw Shazam in the air and caught him by one of his hands and one of his feet. He then pulled Shazam back down on to his knee. The shockwave went through Shazam's body and fractured 3 of his vertebrae. As his body fell, it disappeared before he hit the ground.

"We still have work to do." Zatanna said, as she ran towards Sinestro. Sinestro anticipated this and made a rope around her neck. As it started to tighten, John Stewart flew into him, tackling him to the ground, but not before Zatanna lost consciousness.

"Wait, why am I just standing here?" Joker said, as he ran away from Batman. Green Arrow drew up his bow.

"I gotcha Bats." He said, firing his bow. As the arrow shot towards a fleeing Joker, Zod flew down and caught the arrow. In one swift move he threw it back at Green Arrow. A stunned Oliver Queen watched as the arrow he just fired lodged itself into his chest.

Joker stopped and turned around just in time to see Green Arrow's body hit the ground.

"Kinda didn't see that coming…"


	12. Divine Intervention

_A/N: Here we go for the second half of the final round. As always, if you have anything to say, please leave a review!_

"Okay you're causing too much damage!" John Stewart said, as he flew up to Zod and made a cage around him using his ring. Zod grabbed the bars of the cage and started to pull.

Meanwhile, Joker had been caught by Batman, who was pulling towards him using the batclaw. Sinestro had Martian Manhunter trapped by creating fire around him, rendering him unable to move.

John struggled as Zod started to bend the bars of his cage. His willpower was thinning and Zod knew it. He finally broke out, zooming towards the Green Lantern and grabbed his hand.

"I've fought Green Lanterns before, you can make anything you imagine as a weapon, but you use the power you have defensively." Zod said, as he slowly removed John's ring. "You won't have much need of it soon" he said, as he then dropped John, sending him crashing to the ground, and his body disappeared.

As Batman finished tying up Joker, he turned around and surveyed the situation. Zod had deemed Martian Manhunter a more dangerous foe than himself and had therefore taken to helping Sinestro. But Batman realised something: Green Lanterns can create artificial Kryptonite to harm a Kryptonian, but a _Yellow_ Lantern can charge the powers of a Kryptonian.

"Manhunter!" Batman shouted, "Sinestro is the priority! Then we take Zod." Manhunter nodded. As Batman moved towards the three other combatants, he threw a batarang at Sinestro. Sinestro turned to deflect it, relinquishing his grip on Manhunter.

"Do you really think a toy will damage me?" Sinestro said. Batman didn't reply, he simply threw another one at him. "This is child's pl…." he stopped suddenly. Zod looked around, Manhunter was gone. Suddenly, Sinestro took off his ring and threw it aside. Batman ran up to him and leaped in the air, readying himself to unleash a huge kick to Sinestro's temple. Just before impact, Martian Manhunter stopped possessing Sinestro's body, just in time to watch Batman knock out Sinestro with a single blow.

"Two against one, Zod." Martian Manhunter said.

"No it's not," Zod replied. All of a sudden, Martian Manhunter was engulfed in flames. Batman quickly removed his cape and threw it over him, trying to extinguish it. Behind them stood Joker, who was holding a pistol.

"Ah one of my new toys!" Joker said, "Incendiary rounds: so poetic, so beautiful." He let out a maniacal laugh as Batman removed his cape to see that Manhunter's body was disappearing.

"I believe _NOW_ it is two against one." Zod said.

"I can still take both of you out." Batman said, before suddenly leaping onto Joker, disarming him and dragging him to the side of the battlefield.

"Nice to know I'm still your favourite, Bats" Joker cackled. Zod followed slowly, stalking his prey out in the open.

"I can understand taking down the clown, but I had no idea how you're going to take me down, Batman." Batman backed up against a wall, holding Joker by the scruff of his neck.

"It's all about compartmentalisation" he said, as he pulled out a syringe and injected Joker in the neck.

"Whoa, Bats! You never bring this stuff out on normal date nights?" Joker laughed before he slipped into unconsciousness and his body disappeared. Zod started clapping.

"So it's just us two." He flew backwards, landing in the middle of the battlefield. "Face me, with honour. I promise you shall die quickly and with dignity." Batman stood up and walked towards Zod slowly, mentally planning his attack.

"Mr Wayne." Zod said. Batman stopped walking suddenly. "Do not worry. My name is Takion. I am responsible for the force-field around us. I did not choose to do this. Darkseid kidnapped me from New Genesis."

"How do you know my name?" Batman asked.

"I read your mind, Mr Wayne." Takion replied, using Zod's voice. "I have also foreseen that you are the only one who can stop what Darkseid has planned. You must defeat Zod and I will help you."

"I don't need help." Batman replied sternly.

"Yes you do. I can control the Source. It is the source of all life in the universe. I can amplify your body's capacity to take damage. I will also give you increased speed and strength to match that of Zod's. This is as much as I can do without Darkseid realising what I'm doing." Batman suddenly felt a rush of energy pass through him. He clenched his fists ready.

"Good luck Mr Wayne." Takion said, as he released Zod from his possession. Zod was infuriated.

"I do not like being used as a puppet!" He screamed. Batman readied himself as Zod lunged forwards at super speed. Batman dodged the attack and flipped over Zod, landing behind him. Zod stopped and turned around in amazement. Batman almost smiled to himself as he walked over to Zod. Zod threw a wild haymaker, to which Batman countered by parrying with his left hand and hitting a body punch with his right. Zod recoiled backwards before attempting a spinning kick which Batman caught. With one hand, he threw Zod up in the air, flipping him backwards, before kicking him in the back and sending him flying through a wall.

As Zod picked himself up, Batman could feel the energy inside him waning. It was now or never. Zod made a run at Batman, looking to take him out. Batman transferred all the remaining energy Takion gave him into his right hand. He had to make this count.

Zod sped towards him, as Batman stood there, waiting. Just as Zod was about to make contact, Batman sidestepped him. Before Zod could realise, Batman punched him in the jaw, using all of his remaining Takion energy.

As Zod's limp body hit the floor, Batman stepped back. He was pretty sure he'd just broken his hand.

"Congratulations. You are the victor of this tournament." Darkseid's voice boomed over the battlefield. Batman turned around to see Darkseid standing in front of him, with all of his enforcers standing behind. "If you would be so kind as to follow me, we have much to discuss."

"I want your word that the others will be safe" Batman said, nursing his hand. Darkseid smiled.

"Oh I'm afraid _that_ is entirely up to you."


	13. Fool Me Once

_A/N: I originally intended for the story to end at the end of the previous chapter (slightly differently) but my sense of story structure has shotgunned that idea out of my brain and now I'm finishing it a bit differently. As always, please leave a review if you have anything to say!_

Batman didn't move.

"I want them freed, now!" he shouted.

"In time, Batman, in time" Darkseid replied. Now if you would follow me, we have much to discuss. Batman still remained where he stood. "If you don't willingly follow me, I will have one of my enforcers carry you." Batman scowled, before slowly walking towards Darkseid.

Darkseid turned around and a boom-tube launched in front of him.

"Where exactly are we going?" Batman asked.

"To the source of the problem" Darkseid replied as they all stepped through the boom-tube. It opened again, where they all stepped out. As Darkseid and the enforcers walked over to what looked like a castle, Batman looked around and surveyed his environment. The area was very mountainous, with sand and rocks everywhere. It did, however, not look like anywhere on Earth.

"Where are we?" Batman said. Darkseid turned around.

"Welcome to the planet Rann, Batman."

Inside the castle, Batman walked into the main hall, where Darkseid sat on his throne, whilst Kalibak and the enforcers stood around him. In the background, some Apokoliptian scientists were working on a computer. In a cage in the corner of the room was a very burnt out and weak Takion.

"So what's this all about, Darkseid? Haven't you got a planet to enslave?" Batman said, still nursing his hand.

"Yes, I do, and everything you see here is an effort to keep it that way. Apokolips' power core is almost depleted. The planet will suffer the same fate as Krypton if this isn't changed." Darkseid said.

"And this involves me, how?" Batman said. Darkseid smiled.

"You're going to help me save it. Desaad rules in my absence, but if we do not succeed here, I will have nothing to rule at all."

"You still haven't answered my question." Batman said. Kalibak moved towards him, raising his hand.

"You will watch your tone when you speak to the great Darkseid." He said. Batman didn't even turn his head, he just moved his eyes in Kalibak's direction. Darkseid raised his hand, calling off his son.

"Have you ever heard of the concept of a Sun-Eater?" Darkseid said.

"Superman once told me about it. It's a weapon that destroys stars and absorbs their energy."

"Very good," Darkseid smiled, "and what can your detective mind deduce from my plan so far?"

"You want to use the power from a star to recharge Apokolips' power core." Batman said. "I don't see how I'm needed, from what Clark told me, you just need to aim and fire? Surely you're competent enough to manage that." Kalibak ran towards Batman, took a swing but missed as Batman dodged out of the way, sending him into the wall.

"Kalibak, if I have to tell you again, you can spend the next millennium as the Furies' training dummy." Darkseid said, scowling at him.

"Yes, father." Kalibak replied, giving a dirty look at Batman.

"I do need you Batman, because of the Controllers. They have the only remaining Sun-Eater in this galaxy locked in a system which I cannot crack," Darkseid leaned forward, "but you can."

"So that's what this was all about? You wanted someone to help you save Apokolips, but you were too scared to just _ask_ for the help." Batman said, almost smiling. Kalibak moved his arm slightly, gearing up to punch Batman, but thought better of it and took a step away.

"No. The system must be cracked by the best mind possible for the job. Being on this planet, the system is wired to recognise Rannian anatomy, but since they're all dead, Human anatomy will suffice."

"And I was the best candidate?" Batman asked. Darkseid folded his arms.

"Evidently." Darkseid said. Batman walked over to the scientists, and examined their equipment. He winced again because of his hand, and took out a syringe from his belt and injected himself with a mild painkiller. He looked on the screen as the scientists made preparations for the Sun-Eater. He glanced across a galaxy map and suddenly stopped.

"You're targeting Earth's sun?" Batman shouted. Darkseid merely raised an eyebrow.

"Of course! It has a much larger energy output than the sun in any system this side of the galaxy. And it would destroy Kal-El in the process. I believe the Earth phrase is 'killing two birds with one stone."

"So what happens if I refuse?" Batman said.

"Then I vaporise the other combatants and detonate Earth's core." Darkseid replied emotionlessly.

Batman stood there, emotionless.

"Let's get this over with."


	14. Shame On You

_A/N: Closing in on the finale, should be one more chapter after this one and then all shall be concluded. If anyone has any unanswered questions that I might have missed, I'll do an epilogue. Please leave a review if you want!_

They walked into a room that had a large green cage around it, being powered by 4 generators in the ceiling. Inside the cage was the Sun-Eater; it looked like a mini black hole. In front of the cage was a control panel and a headset. Darkseid pointed at the panel.

"There you go." He said. Batman gave him a dirty look. Batman walked up to the control panel and examined the interface. It was a touchscreen system and a very obvious 'ON' button.

"This seems a little primitive to be keeping you out. Let alone keep hold of a Sun-Eater." Batman said.

"It would be unwise for you to stall any longer." Darkseid retorted. Batman picked up the headset and turned on the machine. The headset started to fizz, and Batman felt a stream of energy pass from one side of the headset to the other, going through his head. The screen lit up, sowing a program that Batman could access and use with his mind, through the headset.

"This is very advanced technology," Batman said, "but I know why you have me here now." Darkseid tilted his head.

"Go on…" he said.

"The program that keeps the cage locked has an algorithm within it that changes every time an incorrect solution is given."

"I have already sent three non-humans to try and decipher the solution the best they can. The interface neither recognised them fully, nor did they make any sort of progress once connected with it," Darkseid said, "could we be here for some time." Suddenly, the cage started to shift, and Batman removed the headset. Darkseid started to laugh as the cage unravelled itself and the Sun-Eater was freed of its cage. Scientists ran towards it, trying to contain it. Batman walked towards Darkseid.

"It's the same sort of security system I wrote into Brother Eye," he said, "Now release the rest of them."

Before Darkseid could answer, the Sun-Eater started to resist the constraints being placed on it. A few mild explosions rattled through the room. As Batman stepped back, he removed a pocket hacker from his belt, typed in a code and threw it onto the cables leading from the targeting computer in the other room.

The scientists managed to settle it down, and Darkseid turned around and stood triumphantly.

"I will keep up my end of the bargain. You and the others will be returned to safely to Earth…" he said. Suddenly, a boom tube opened up behind Batman as Darkseid kicked him through it.

"…to die."


	15. Consilium

_A/N: FINAL CHAPTER! Thank you all for reading this the whole way through! Means a lot to me that you stuck with it. If there are any unanswered questions, PM me or leave a review._

The boom tube spat out Batman hard into the air. He managed to cushion his fall using his cape, landing softly on the sandy ground. He immediately tried to access his palmtop computer. He had a signal, which meant he was back on Earth, somewhere in the Kalahari Desert.

"Nice to see you again, Bats." Hal said. Batman turned around to see the rest of the combatants, from both sides, flying behind him, with Hal Jordan carrying the non-flyers in a green coach. Joker and Harley were kept in a separate cage, with John Stewart carrying them.

"What did that monster want?" Superman said, flying down to Batman.

"He wanted to destroy Earth's sun to power Apokolips." Batman replied. Superman clenched his fists. Flash, however, looked puzzled.

"So why aren't we all dead?" he asked. Suddenly another boom tube appeared behind them.

"You'll see," Batman said. Out from the boom tube came Darkseid, followed by his enforcers: Ares, Mongul, Doomsday, Ultraman and Amazo. Batman quickly tapped a few buttons on his wrist and a beam shot down from a Waynetech satellite, keeping the boom tube open.

"Excellently played, Batman" Darkseid said, "I underestimated the technology you had at your disposal."

"Then you obviously have never met him." Aquaman said, smugly.

"What did you do?" Wonder Woman asked Batman.

"I diverted the Sun-Eater to a star system with no life-giving planets" he replied. Darkseid smiled.

"Although my goal was reached, you still defied my will. And for that, you all shall die." He waved his enforcers forward. Ultraman and Mongul both stepped forwards, readying themselves. Amazo and Doomsday, albeit for differing reasons, were reluctant to follow his order. Ares simply walked away.

"I shall have no part in this game." Ares said, teleporting away. Everyone who could shot into action: Aquaman, Black Adam, Green Arrow and Wonder Woman leap at Ultraman, all ready to hit him with their best shot. Mongul was met by punches from Bane, Circe, Shazam and Bizarro, each laying in their hardest punches, sending him flying across the sand.

When Doomsday entered the fray, Zod lashed out a haymaker to the chin, whilst Superman followed up with a tackle backwards. Zoom and Flash had both started to run around Amazo, circling around him fast enough to create a tornado around him. Martian Manhunter zoomed up to him and phased through him, taking his core processor with him and shutting the android down.

John Stewart, Hal Jordan, Star Sapphire, Atrocitus and Sinestro had all moved forward to trap Darkseid, keeping him at bay whilst the others took out the enforcers.

Batman stood back, analysing the battle.

"Arrow! Manoeuvre 37b!" he shouted. Green Arrow pressed a switch on his belt and fired an arrow at Ultraman, which he caught.

"Don't think I'm falling for that again," he laughed as he snapped the arrow in half. As he did, the arrow snapped to reveal a pod, which exploded and released a stream of kryptonite dust into the air. Ultraman unwittingly breathed it in and started to cough violently. Wonder Woman launched in with a punch to Ultraman's temple and knocking him out. Black Adam then picked him up and threw him back through the boom tube.

Doomsday was taking wave after wave of punches as Zod and Superman coordinated their attacks in sequence. Soon, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter joined them and pummelled the monster back towards the boom tube. Doomsday hobbled backwards, reeling after the power he had just felt. Zod and Superman both looked at each other. Zod gave the slightest of nods, as he two rushed forward and punched Doomsday through, sending a shockwave back, knocking over a few of the others.

As the others picked themselves up, they turned around to face Mongul, who had stopped fighting his attackers and looked around at all the people ready to fight him. He raised an eyebrow and turned to Darkseid, who was still struggling under the might of the Lanterns.

"I'll just leave you to deal with this, Darkseid," he said, turning and walking towards the boom tube, "it's not worth the effort." As he walked through the boom tube, the Waynetech beam holding it together started to flicker.

"John! Hal!" Superman yelled, "NOW!" All the lanterns relinquished their grip on Darkseid as the entire force of the combatants rushed upon him. Wonder Woman threw her lasso around Darkseid's wrist and yanked it back, holding him whilst Superman, Zod, Martian Manhunter, Shazam, Black Adam, Aquaman, Flash and Zoom all thundered into him one after the other, knocking him back and back further.

Batman turned to Cyborg and nodded, signalling him to start pressing buttons on his wrist and a teleport to the Watchtower opened. All the combatants moved backwards towards the teleport, as Darkseid wavered at the opening of the boom tube. Superman looked and Batman and gave him a smile.

"He's all yours" he said, as he and the others moved into the teleport. Darkseid steadied himself, standing up straight and making himself look as big as possible.

"Do you not realise, mortal? I am a GOD! YOU WILL TREMBLE BEFORE ME!" he shouted. Batman pressed another button on his wrist.

"I have a better idea…" Batman said, as the Batwing flew overhead, crashing into Darkseid and exploding, sending him through the boom tube just as the Waynetech beam disappeared. The boom tube sucked Darkseid in, and then came a cataclysmic explosion, that Cyborg shielded them from.

As the smoke cleared, Batman stood there, staring into the crater left behind. He breathed deeply, and closed his eyes. "For Dick" He said.

"C'mon Bats, let's go." Cyborg said. Batman opened his eyes, turned around and walked through the teleport.

Later, the league settled down. Earth's villain combatants had all been imprisoned back in Arkham Asylum or Stryker's Penitentiary. The villains not of Earth were given a reprieve of absence for their help, on the condition that they never returned to Earth.

Arriving back at the living quarters of the Watchtower, Batman walked into the wing reserved for himself and his recruits into the Justice League. Waiting in the lobby was Robin, putting a mannequin in the middle of the room. Next to him was a large box on the ground.

"I thought we should give him a proper memorial" he said. He picked up the box and opened it, showing inside Dick Grayson's Robin suit and mask. Batman removed his mask and put it on the table. He put his hand on Robin's shoulder.

"Thank you Tim, for everything" Batman said, he smiled at him. Martian Manhunter's voice came over the communication system.

"Can all League members please make their way to the main hall please?" he said.

Inside the main hall, the entire Justice League had gathered together, filling up the gigantic room. The Justice League trinity; Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all stepped up in front of everyone.

"I'd like to thank all of you for what you did during all of this," Superman said, "both those who were inside, witnessing it all, as well as those who helped on the outside. We don't know what happened to Darkseid or his enforcers. What we do know is that, for now at least, Earth, no… this solar system is safe because of what you all did. And the one thing that…"

"The one thing that you need to remember," Batman interrupted, "is that _you_ are why the people of Earth are safe. Metropolis will always have its Superman, Gotham will always have its Batman," he put his hand on Superman's shoulder. "Earth will always have its Justice League."

_A/N: So… there we have it. If you have any unanswered questions feel free to contact me. Thanks again for staying with it – Batscribe29_


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